Hi all,

After a bit of advice from seasoned commuters after buying a Pinnacle Lithium for riding to work.

First, what mudguards would people recommend for 40-45c tyres? Seen some sks bluemels (or something like that) that I thought looked decent, but never bought and fitted full mudguards before.

Second, I fancy some different bars offering more hand positions. Will probably use On-one because they’re cheap and offer loads of varieties – can anyone comment on any of the weird and wonderful shapes they do – bit overwhelming the amount of choice available!

Finally, what cheapish pannier bags can people recommend? Don’t really want to spend more than £50 on a pair unless that will only buy me rubbish.

Any advice appreciated!

Panniers – depends how long your comutte. I use a rucksac for less than 3 miles, panniers for over.

Ortleib are the easiest I have used to fit and remove – great if you carry them inside your workplace. Carradice are fiddly to fit and remove – best if you leave them on the bike

Both are 100% waterproof and very robust. Both are well more than your budget. However they are good value in that they are robust, waterproof and secure on the bike

Depends how long your commute is.

My current one is 2 miles, i dont bother with panniers.

My previous one was 25 miles, i didnt bother with panniers (but did sometimes use a trailer if I was taking a lot of stuff!)

Theres a theme there! Leave clothes at work as far as possible. Dont take laptops and paperwork etc home. A 20l backpack with clothes in still weighs less than the average camelback full of water so it wont really make any difference. I’ve got some ortlieb panniers, i just dont use them much. Having said that I need to pop to the shops so might get them out now!

Bars, if its comfortable why bother spending money on it. Yes 320miles gave me numb hands with flat once, but the same bike was never a problem on a 25mile each way commute.

Sks are good guards, as are m-part IME. Its hard to really go far wrong with traditional guards, at worst they need some rubber washers or fettling to prevent any loose bits vibrating.

Do get a dynamo if you plan to commute regularly. Compared to batteries and the faff of charging its a revelation to just get on a bike and ride it! Im off to the shops now, dont need to rummage for lights.

My advice would be disc brakes

Stop start traffic light commuting played hell with my buckles on v brakes

Discs ftw

Flat bars for the win, no need for multiple hand positions when one is comfy.

Mud guards ftw, I currently have a 25.4mm handlebar chopped down to around 50cm with Cane Creek Ergo bar ends, Schwalbe Marathon (or Land Cruiser) Plus will save you puncturing and add reflective loops to your wheels, strategic reflective tape, Overboard 20l waterproof Pro Vis rucksack is IP66 rated and part of my hi viz PPE, cheap On One Helmet, rechargable lights = Exposure Tracer, old Joystick on the bike & a AA led on rucksack & cheap pound shop athlete’s foot powder for my crevases as I don’t have a shower. 8 miles each way 5 times a week S.S.

RE bars, I am a big fan of Jones loop bars – which the On One Geoff is a copy of. Very comfy and upright for commuting but can still get into an aero tuck if that’s your jam.

RE mudguards, if you don’t mind a faff up front to fit them I’d go Velo-Orange or similar full coverage offerings. No annoying rattles and genuinely keep you pretty dry from water coming up off the road.

Just personal opinion mind!

Bars – whatever is comfy. At different times I have used very different setups ( I don’t do drops). Narrow flat bars with bar ends and a low stem – fast and good in traffic. Mary bars on a high rise stem – comfy as heck and great for relaxed riding. Standard old skoool mtb risers – good allrounders. Now on bullhorns on a road bike

I prefer hub gears for commuting – low maintenance. Obviously a putolined chain. dynamo for a longer commute. always full mudguards. disc brakes of course ( apart from on my current bike but its a one mile flat commute)

My personal tips:
Drop bars are awesome and give loads of hand positions.
Guards are great, I’ve got some SKS which are work well, I’ve added flaps to then for max coverage.
I much prefer panniers to a pack for more than me 20 minutes or so. I’ve got some cheap panniers from Decathlon which have proved perfectly good for my 15 mile commute.
If you work in an office or have access to a PC then USB charging lights are great.

Any of the usual suspects for mudguards will be fine; Bluemels, SKS will do the job.
I’d just get normal drop bars, which will give you plenty of hand positions. Choose a width that is comfortable for you (most people go with something that matches their shoulder width) so you’re not riding with your arms splayed out.
The Decathlon waterproof panniers are good value for the money (my kids use them) but I would strongly recommend spending a little extra and getting Ortliebs. Better fixing system, which is a big plus if you are using them every day, and tougher built.

Think about the spares you’ll need for any issues (ie how big a deal to push a couple of miles to work vs carry a chain tool and links etc) then keep a separate set of them on the commuter rather than having to remember to swap them from bike/pack to bike.

Obviously a putolined chain.

Jeez, give it a rest man 🙂

Other than that, what they all said, especially the main themes of keep as much as possible at work and have as much as possible already on the bike (tubes, pump, spares, lights etc) , so there’s less faffing in a morning.

Additional tip of Polaris as supplier of good, no nonsense, well made, riding clobber.

Cheers guys for some good ideas so fast. Should have given a bit of context. Distance is 5 miles each way, all tarmac cycle path but with option to up it to gravel fireroad (8 miles) some days. Im a teacher so no way to avoid transporting work backwards and forwards, tried a big rucksack today but too heavy/sweaty to be comfy so definitely fancy panniers. Re mudguards I’ll get one of the sets recommended above. I’ll keep bars for now, but after a good few shake down rides I’m finding them uncomfy, probably because I’ve ridden 750mm plus bars for last 5 or 6 years on my mtbs.

Tyres – my go to are conti contacts or gps in protection form- puncture proof to the point of no punctures in years of commuting so I never bother with puncture kit or any other spares / kit. Basically If I get an issue its a taxi the rest of the way but its never happened

If you are carrying stuff, seriously consider a traditional carradice saddlebag.  I much preferred the weight distribution as i found you don’t get the “tail wagging dog” sensation.  They do raise the CoG of the bike but it’s negligible once your on the saddle.

Flat bars (swept On One OG risers), prefer to be more upright in traffic.
Dynamo lights front and rear.
Full guards and big flaps.
Front rack with bag on top for laptop/clothes/lunch.
Discs.
Tubeless tyres.
Leave a lock at work to save carrying one.

Okay my experience so far has led me to:

SKS Longboards. Probably overkill but even in the pissing wet I’m getting barely a fraction of the soaking I used to. Bluemels are probably fine though, I’m west coast Scotland.

Commuter riser – not bad but a bit narrow, I’m looking at either Ergon grips (which are lovely), bar ends (as my hands like the position) or some Geoff bars (as I fancy doing some longer distance stuff as well). Drops were a waste of time for me as I rode in the hoods the whole time and hated not having controls to hand.

My panniers are Lidl specials. Nowt fancy and do well enough at keeping stuff together (but not dry, dry bags are your friend there) but I only carry relatively light loads so take that with a pinch of salt. Beats the crap out of lugging it on your back, I hate bags. Something like this might be a good fit? https://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/dry-bike-tail-bag.html#SID=152

I do a similar commute and prefer using my cheap Altura Sonic 15 panier to my previous 20l Alpkit dry rucksack. I think it was £30 with some codes from Evans.

For 47mm tyres I’ve recently fitted aluminium SKS Edge mudguards and they are brilliant. Great coverage, sturdy and silent. I’ve had to ‘engineer’ some custom mounts and spacers to perfect the position, but they are by far the best guards I’ve used. Would be wary of flimsy plastic guards on anything used daily.

Re bars.

I used to use some On-One Midge bars (because I was stupid I sold the Salsa Woodchippers it came with) btu found that I struggled to swap between the moustache bars and proper roadie drops.

Then I used CX style slightly flared drop bars on both of those and found it much better.

If you don’t have a road bike thenI’d suggest giving moustache bars a try. Of course if you currently have flat bars then going to drops requires new brake levers, shifters and possibly even new frame or stem to correct the geometry, so maybe just put some bar ends on your flat bars 🙂

I like the convenience of SKS Beavertail XL guards, so easy to mount or remove. 2.35″ G-Ones and Vee Speedsters are fractions too big to work on my Voodoo, so I recently got a pair of 50mm Schwalbe Century that have bags of clearance.

Little tweaks make a difference to my short commute…
Longer and lower stem
Tyres that blend well from the rim (especially front wheel)

Been using a 747mm “chewy” Knuckleball bar for ~2.5 years and I have a Ritchey Superlogic 660mm in the spares box, which would make me more aero and gain speed on the downhill… Currently my arms act like giant parachutes and prevent me freewheeling at 30mph+ down Lances Hill! 😆

Bars are pretty much personal preference. >10 mile commute these days so I use drops, when it was <5 miles I used flat bars. I wouldn’t go with modern MTB bar widths if you like to get past stationary traffic (but I wouldn’t go full hipster grips up against the stem width either) 660-690mm is probably about right.

Dynamo lighting is a good idea, and can be had reasonably cheaply these days.

A rack with fully waterproof panniers you can put on and take off quickly is the best way to carry luggage. Comfy long distance, avoids sweaty back if you’re commuting a short distance and not getting changed. Take all your clothes in once a week for less faff if you are getting changed.

Disc or hub brakes are a good idea to stop rim wear, although the odd pothole will get your rims it’s less of a constant worry (rims used to last me about 18 months until I went fixed wheel then disc braked – they were cheap enough to replace though, probably similar overall cost to discs).

If you’re only going to ride to work, consider just taking a lock and leaving it there.

Don’t listen too much to random people’s opinions online. But don’t be too much of a lone wolf either. Unless that floats your boat 🙂

Forgot to mention, I keep my main lock at work, but take a small light cable lock with me in the jacket pocket. Handy for popping briefly into a shop on way home, if nothing else.

If you don’t have a road bike thenI’d suggest giving moustache bars a try. Of course if you currently have flat bars then going to drops requires new brake levers, shifters and possibly even new frame or stem to correct the geometry, so maybe just put some bar ends on your flat bars 🙂

JT talks sense, drop bars would be seriously compromised on a Lithium.

If the bar’s aren’t working for you then there’s a whole world of ‘alt’ bars out there.

From ‘moustache’ which are kinda like a flattened drop bar with the grips parallel to the stem. To Jones, to On One Mary and then Fleegle, then just swept flat bars like the On-One OG bar. Personally I like Fleegles, although they’re stiffer than a stiff thing.

SKS Edge mudguards have been brilliant for me – far more robust than Chromoplastics or Bluemels. Won’t fit all bikes, but if they do then worth considering especially if planning rougher trails where the added rigidity is great. Easier to fit than Chromoplastics too IME.

Love my barends on flat bars – more hand positions. I simply can’t get on with drops, tried but never have. Swapped to Ritchey carbon flats with 9deg of backsweep which suits me well.

I don’t carry anything big/heavy other than my lunch, so rucsac works for me. My route often takes in tame trailcentre so it’s nice not having the weight of a rack/panniers on the bike on those occasions, but otherwise I’d be tempted to get the weight off my back too.

Cheers all. Some great tips, much appreciated. I hate drop bars, plus as said above I’d have to get new kit to go on them. For how I’ll stick with narrowish flat bar. I’ve added ergon grips which may help with my discomfort. I’ll have a look at the mudguard and pannier options above and definitely get some based on the advice. Cheers!

I have been commuting on a Lithium 5 for about 5 years now, I think it’s great, especially for the cost. My wife and youngest daughter also have them for commuting. I have toured a couple of times on mine, but it’s my wife’s only bike and she has done pretty much anything and everything on hers (eg LeJog, Penine cycle way, …).
Re panniers, I think the Ortlieb classic are hard to beat – waterproof, lightweight and easy to mount/unmount. I only use 1 for commuting. The first one I had I bought as a single from LBS, who were happy to split a pair. Used daily all year round for about 10 years and still in reasonable nick.

2.5 mile commute and bike left at station all day. That distance is do-able without bike clothing. Bike looks like an absolute POS – hammerite’d Spesh Tricross SS frame, v-brakes, a real odd mix of functional parts underneath the months of road grime and general neglect but it all works. Flat pedals, On-One OG bars, SKS mudguards, bulletproof SS setup, Conti puncture proof tyres… Was running it with a Topeak rack and panniers but its just loads less faff to throw my laptop bag on my back for that distance.

Did have a Cotic Roadrat which I loved but it was nicked from the station. I guess carbon forks and disc brakes still catch a thieves eye regardless of weird handlebars, zero colour co-ordination, mud guards etc.

Ortlieb classic are hard to beat – waterproof, lightweight

I really rate ortleibs but lightweight they are certainly not!

Year round commuter here on an Arkose

SKS guards, topeak rack and topeak rack pack. It’s ace. Rarely use any other bag, has been a reliable set up for years now

Would maybe like a dynamo set up but my strada/joystick set up works pretty well and I use the strada offroad as well

Lomo heavy duty drybags, Ortleib spares, plastic backing and a bit of time.

Lightweight, cheap, waterproof.

2.5 mile commute and bike left at station all day

This is deffo ‘anything with mudguards’ distance!

Not much to add to all other replies. Just road-specific lights, ie cutoff beam front, large rear, with some reflective gear on ankles, bike etc.

I use a Lidl roll-top pannier. Not heavy.

After a bit of advice from seasoned commuters after buying a Pinnacle Lithium for riding to work.

My advice is ride with what you have for a month or two until you have a routine. Then buy based on what best suits your routine. You might not need a pannier, you might be happy with a rucksack – buy a better one.

For guards, blumel are great. I’ve broken a few SKS chromoplastics. Now trying PDW alloy.

My advice is ride with what you have for a month or two until you have a routine. Then buy based on what best suits your routine. You might not need a pannier, you might be happy with a rucksack – buy a better one.

This……

My favourite commute backpack is an evoc commute,not to big not to small,Goldilocks style,there are bags and bags you really want comfy nothing worse than a grim uncomfy one.

The secret is to keep a pair of trousers/shoes in work just carry the minimum other clothes required daily,lock left in work.

Panniers sort of encourage the kitchen sink scenario just because you have space you end up carrying everything and make a pleasant journey into an ordeal light and quick is more fun and fun will keep you keen to ride,bad experiences will put you off.

If your planning on riding road grab one of the proviz type reflective jackets the yellow jackets are for er numptys.

I do like a nice gravel bike for commuting thou and would have pushed you in that direction if you hadn’t already purchased.

I have been commuting on a Lithium 5 for about 5 years now, I think it’s great, especially for the cost.

Ditto! Ortliebs and SKS ftw.

And I have a laptop which meant I use either a Deuter road EXP rucksack or my ortlieb downtown briefcase. If i didn’t need to take a laptop, I’d use my Topeak MTX beamrack for clothes and keep shoes at work. Lighter is always nicer. I have a locker at work so really just carry shirts and underwear.

I commute on my fixed road bike, cross bike, road race bike, TT bike and my recumbent trike Or I take the folding bike with a Brompton bag attachment.

You soon learn what works for you.

Mudguards with flaps, as well as keeping you clean, keep the bike cleaner too. This saves in the long run (time and money)
Dynamo lights are fit and forget.
Someone above mentioned that a saddle bag may be preferable to panniers due to better weight distribution, I would agree with this, you could consider a frame bag for the same reasons.
Lidl panniers, cheap and certainly look fine, but a mate had a set and one of them got damaged when he clipped it on a tree (Singletrack)
I’ve done the same with my altura panniers (which are bigger/heavier) they were fine, so i reckon you get what you pay for tbh.

Do you want a set of lidl panniers for postage? PM me

I find that robustness and reliability is better than lightness and speed in a commuter.

If you have the slightest lack of confidence that the bike is ready to go, or something on it needs adjustment when getting it out of the garage at 0600 on a cold dark morning then you’ll soon find a non-bike way to get to work that day, and the next, and the next, then before you realise you are no longer a cycle commuter.

I’d echo most of the above about guards and panniers being worthwhile.

I would also recommend buying some 3M reflective tape. Wrap a few rings of it around each tube of your frame, a couple of tabs on your rims, a few bits round your cranks and some along your mudguards. You will then be very visible with lots of rotating reflective things from every angle.
It comes in lots of colours, so you can probably get something to blend in and match your bike in daylight if that is important to you.

So this isn’t my day to day commuter/work bike (That’s a Kona Ute!), but if I’m cycling to a meeting/education event/GF that’s a fair few miles away, you can’t beat panniers and drops.

I’ve just stuck some aero bars on the ol’ girl too, mainly for a different position and comfort!

I’ve got ortlieb commuter pannier – super lightweight, waterproof, and fix firmly to the minimalist rack..

DrP

Kinesis crosslight
Kinesis fend off guards
Aluminium pannier rack
Conti GT tyres with tubes/ schwalbe one tubeless
Kinesis crosslight wheels
Cable discs
Alpkit top tube bag
Small waterproof saddle bag to store muktitool, spare tube, patches, chocolate and 20€
Ortlieb panniers (rear)

I’ve used a lot of the kit above for multiday bike trips.

The best things I’ve got are the top tube bag (store wallet, keys, phone), ortlieb panniers (surprisingly stable off-road), discs (saved life at least twice) and the mudguards.

If you’re going to carry food, make sure your lunchbox is properly sealed. If your clothes are covered in yesterday’s fish curry, nobody will thank you!